Arizona Diamondbacks shut out Pittsburgh Pirates

by Nick Piecoro - Jun. 9, 2011 10:17 PMThe Arizona Republic

PITTSBURGH - Though he's known for his heavy hitting, it instead was Micah Owings' legs that got a rally going Thursday night, and you can count Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young among those surprised at just how quickly Owings made it down the line in the eighth inning at PNC Park.

"He was floating down the line," Young said, smiling. "He had a little adrenaline going."

After Owings legged out an infield single, Young followed with a two-run blast, giving the Diamondbacks the only runs scored in a 2-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a win that allowed them to avoid a three-game sweep.

They won despite a shorter, yet still effective, outing from Josh Collmenter and with David Hernandez working the ninth in place of J.J. Putz, whose stiff back sidelined him for at least a night.

The glow of the Diamondbacks' incredible three-week tear is starting to fade, in large part because of a slumping offense. In the past nine games, in which the D-Backs have gone 4-5, they are hitting just .232 and averaging a shade north of three runs per game.

Though the bullpen did, in fact, uncharacteristically blow leads in the first two games of this series, the offense might have been the hidden culprit.

"In the last couple of games," Young said, "we haven't been able to put the runs up for them, and we're kind of putting them in some situations they probably shouldn't have been in in the first place."

The offense again was stagnant Thursday, getting shut down by Pirates right-hander Jeff Karstens (seven shutout innings) before Owings came to the plate against reliever Chris Resop with one out in the eighth.

Owings hit a grounder to the left of third baseman Josh Harrison, who lunged, popped up and threw to first. But Owings' long strides got him there a split second before the ball, setting the stage for Young.

"Little bit," Owings said when asked if he could smell a hit as he busted it down the line. "Now I've got the first (hit) of the year out of the way."

Young got ahead 2-0, and Resop fired a fastball up in the zone. Young crushed it into the left-field stands.

For manager Kirk Gibson, it was just another example of Young's development, citing improvement in his ability to capitalize in hitter's counts.

"I think he's getting better at knowing what kind of pitch he wants to hit in those situations," Gibson said. "He put a quick swing on it. It was big."

Young said: "When you get ahead, you're basically looking for that cookie. A 2-0, 3-0 count, you don't ever want to swing at the pitcher's pitch. You want to look in one area and if he throws it in one area, don't guide the bat to it, just whale at it, almost.

"Right there, you have the advantage and the pitcher has to come to you. You try to use it to your advantage as much as you can."

View from the press box

Kirk Gibson was among the many in the Diamondbacks clubhouse who were heartened by the news that Bob Melvin had landed another managing gig, taking over the Oakland Athletics. "I texted him, 'Congratulations. You're back where you belong.' He texted me right back and said, 'I'll see you soon.' " The Diamondbacks visit the A's in three weeks.

Rewind

Putz unavailable: Closer J.J. Putz was not available to pitch Thursday because of lower-back stiffness, but he seemed to consider the injury almost trivially minor, at least judging by the surprise he displayed when approached by reporters after the game.

"We were erring on the side of caution," he said. "I don't think it's going to be an issue."

So it's not as bad as the back stiffness that sidelined him for a couple of weeks during spring training?

"It's not even close, not even in the same region," he said. "I think I just slept in that heavenly bed wrong."

For what it's worth, that heavenly bed belongs to the Westin.

Hernandez effective: After giving up five runs without recording an out Tuesday, right-hander David Hernandez threw a perfect ninth to earn the save in place of Putz.

Hernandez made a terrific diving stop of a Josh Harrison comebacker and threw from his knees to get the first out of the inning.

"That will make some highlight reels," manager Kirk Gibson said.

Collmenter solid: By going five shutout innings, right-hander Josh Collmenter extended his scoreless streak to 13 innings. He might have pitched deeper in the game if not for a 31-pitch fifth inning in which opposing pitcher Jeff Karstens (11 pitches) and Xavier Paul (10 pitches) each had drawn-out at-bats.

"That's where another out pitch would probably come in handy," Collmenter said. "They fouled off pitches and were trying to wait for me to make a mistake, and fortunately, I didn't."

Up Next

Florida Marlins

The Marlins beat the Diamondbacks on May 31 but hadn't won since then entering Thursday, going from two games back in the National League East to five games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. Of their seven consecutive losses, six had come by one run. They look like a team in disarray. Their offense has been slumping, averaging scoring two runs or fewer in four of the past five games, leading to the dismissal of hitting coach John Mallee, who was replaced by Eduardo Perez. They were hitting just .175 with men in scoring position during the seven-game losing streak.